Whiting wins GOP nod in Iowa Senate seat

SIOUX CITY -- An aide to Rep. Steve King captured the Republican nomination Tuesday for a state Senate seat in the Iowa Great Lakes region.

Zach Whiting, 30, of Spirit Lake, captured 62percent of the vote in Senate District 1, with four of the five precincts reporting. Brad Price, of Spirit Lake, was second with 23 percent, and Jessee Wolfe, of Emmetsburg, had 15 percent.

With backing from King, Iowa's 4th District congressman, Whiting entered the Senate race after incumbent Sen. David Johnson of Ocheyedan quit the Republican Party in protest of his party nominating Donald Trump for president.

Johnson, a four-term senator who changed his party affiliation to independent, and had previously said he would petition his way onto the general election ballot, dropped his re-election bid last week.

With no Democrat filed in the staunchly Republican district, Whiting now appears appears on his way to the Senate.